bonus categories Archives - Your Mileage May Vary

What Is Manufactured Spending And Why Do People Do It?

Manufactured spending. What does that mean? It’s not apparent from the name, but a good guess would be that it has something to do with spending money in relation to travel since I’m writing about it on a blog dealing with points, miles and travel.

I’m personally no expert on the topic. I know some of the basics of what’s involved in the process. I’ve dabbled with some of the more straightforward methods here and there, but I’m not a regular practitioner.

For those of you who know what manufactured spending is, there’s not going to be anything new in this article, unless you want to read someone who has a basic understanding of the topic explaining it to someone who has never heard of it before.

I don’t think there’s a set definition of manufactured spending or MS. My best attempt at it is that manufactured spending is any method used to spend money multiple times through a financial instrument, to earn some form of reward.

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We Know You Love Your Jeep But Should You Get The Jeep Mastercard?

There were many things Sharon needed to learn once she purchased her purple Jeep Wrangler, affectionately called Jeep Jeep. She needed to learn a new set of social norms shared between Jeep owners, such as the Jeep Wave. For those of you who, like me, didn’t know, this is a real thing. Jeep owners are so proud of the car choice that they need to reaffirm their love whenever they see someone driving the same car as them.

Jeep knows they have a loyal fan base so what better way to monetize that than with a co-brand credit card. After our new vehicle purchase, we were sent a monthly invitation to apply for the Jeep DrivePlus Mastercard with Maximum Rewards.

I wouldn’t think that right after making a huge, possibly financed, purchase would be the best time to sign up for a new card but maybe First Bankcard, the issuer of this card knows more than I do.

I like looking into these credit cards that many people overlook. Is there something here worth taking advantage of? What does the Jeep Mastercard have to offer?

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The Best Credit Cards To Maximize Grocery Store/Supermarket Spending

According to USA Today, the average American family spends 10% of their income to pay for food, with that spending split almost evenly between eating out and eating at home. Plenty of credit cards provide bonuses for spending on restaurants, fast food and coffee shops but far fewer provide a bonus when buying groceries.

For a spending category that, on average, is 5% of your income, it makes sense to have a card that maximizes the points earned on those purchases. If you don’t want to have a card just for grocery spending, you should at least know which one of your cards will earn you the most amount of points possible.

These bonuses do not include grocery purchases made at Walmart, Target or any discount club like Sam’s Club, Costco or BJ’s.

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Citi Prestige: What Changed, What Didn’t, And What It All Means

The Citi Prestige card. Either you think it’s one of the most valueable cards out there or you don’t understand why people love the card so much. I’d say that I’m in the first camp. I appreciate the unique perks the Prestige provides and keep the card because it’s easy for us to end up making money without much effort or having to change our travel preferences.

In October 2018, Citi announced a major revamp to the Prestige card. Several of the changes went into effect on January 4th. Since many of these changes are major improvements to the card, it has earned a permanent slot back in my wallet. Here’s a list of things that have changed already, what changes are coming down the road and what hasn’t changed.

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Only Four Days Left To Maximize Discover’s Quarterly Bonus Categories

One of the things I love about my Discover card are the quarterly bonus categories. Every three months Discover gives 5% back in purchases (up to $1500) in a certain category or categories. They’ve already announced the whole list for 2018:

As you can see, the categories for the first three months of 2018 are Gas Stations and Wholesale Clubs.

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